To identify the cause of hypokalemic periodic paralysis (HOKPP) in a family whose disease is not caused by a mutation in the dihydropyridine-sensitive (DHP) receptor alpha1-subunit gene (CACNA1S).
Recent molecular work has shown that hypoPP is due to mutations in a skeletal muscle voltage-gated calcium channel: the dihydropyridine receptor (DHP receptor).
Expression and functional characterization of the cardiac L-type calcium channel carrying a skeletal muscle DHP-receptor mutation causing hypokalaemic periodic paralysis.
We have characterized patient-specific DHP receptor mutations in 11 probands of 33 independent hypoKPP kindreds that occur at one of two adjacent nucleotides within the same codon and predict substitution of a highly conserved arginine in the S4 segment of domain 4 with either histidine or glycine.
We recently showed genetic linkage of hypoPP to loci on chromosome 1q31-32, co-localized with the DHP-sensitive calcium channel CACNL1A3.We propose to term this locus hypoPP-1.